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reduxzero
  
location:
Edmonton, AB
Gender: Male
 |  |  | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 40 on 1/15/2006 6:11 PM >
|  | | | Posted by followthewhiterabbit
Its been a while but my memory just kicked in tonight |
There are a few blatant errors in this post. Let's see if we can clear them up before any more unnecessary rumours abou Edmonton's little LRT are started.
Posted by followthewhiterabbit
they dug the tunnel straight through to 111th I believe but never opened the stations except for the university station. |
False. Tunnels and stations are incredibly expensive to build, and they only went as far as University.
Posted by followthewhiterabbit
bringing this boring tunneling machine back would be really expensive so they dug the whole tunnel. |
Partially right. Bringing the TBM back to dig more tunnels was indeed quite expensive; that's why they didn't do it until 2003, after money had finally been gathered and mountains of paper were pushed. But the original tunnel, like I said, stopped at University station.
Posted by followthewhiterabbit
They just opened the next station along the line this january.. And if you look at the link i provide... you can see that there is an expansion station planned for 2008. the 76 avenue station and the south campus station. |
Correct. We went for a free ride, from that brand new station, the day it was opened. And Edmonton's little LRT is thankfully, finally, extending its line.
Posted by followthewhiterabbit
well ive got news folks. The tunnel for that station already exists, from what we were told 10 years ago. |
Hahaha, hahaha, ha. Did you even read anything on the LRT website? All the lines and the stations are one the SURFACE.
Posted by followthewhiterabbit
So, whoever has the determination and witt to figure it out should be able to explore a location PRE use. as opposed to the usual post use... have fun and post pictures!!!
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We did, thanks, and it was always good.
Naos in the brand-new tunnel
Reduxzero, Nancy Drew, and Feztaa in the more completed tunnel
reduxzero - DrainsofmyCity |
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followthewhiterabbit
 
location:
Lower Main land
Gender: Male
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 41 on 1/15/2006 9:13 PM >
| | | | hey reduxzero, Thank-you for the pics. very interesting.
your right i did not read the LRT site to see which stations were above and below ground. I do however know that 10 years ago when I lived in Edmonton and even further back to when they opened the university station, there was a lot of talk about how the piece of tunnel that goes from university station until where it would exit to the surface was already dug, as they had dug it all at the same time. Or so we thought.
That was the talk 10 years ago, The controversy at the time was that the LRT didnt go into south edmonton even though the tunnel would permit it, because, there was no money to build the stations.
So... From where the pics you took are, how much further does the tunnel go? were you able to get to the end where the tunnel would be close to exiting to the surface? Or does the tunnel only go to the new station and they intend to bring the TBM back in 2007  to finish the tunnel? I dont imagine this to be the case as it isnt listed in the project planning. Its interesting that they brought the TBM back in 2003 to finish the tunnel as the u of a Student union counsel as well as several Edmonton Transit staff were under the impression the tunnel was dug almost in its entirety in the early 1990's. I imagine that either way they must have finished the digging at this point, which would still mean that there is a section of tunnel to explore from the current new station until it reaches the surface.
In any event, My post was intended to provide a potential avenue to explore in Edmonton and despite cutting some of my post down, your pics simply confirm what I was saying. In a round about manner. Unfortunatly it looks like there would have been plenty to explore in the past couple of years but it has never been mentioned in the forum. How long ago did you explore the tunnel Redux? I'm guessing somewhere around a year ago?
[last edit 1/15/2006 9:42 PM by followthewhiterabbit - edited 2 times]
It seems you've just been looking with your eyes closed. |
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reduxzero
location:
Edmonton, AB
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 42 on 1/15/2006 11:26 PM >
| | | | Just to clear all this up:
In the early 1990s, they dug out and built two tunnels leading from the riverbank to the new underground LRT station at University. True, there was a tiny stub (3meters long) at the end of one track, boarded off by a blue-painted wooden wall; but it certainly didn't go anywhere. University was the southernmost LRT station on the line when it opened in 1992, and then expansion stopped.
The city only recently began digging the LRT 'out of the ground' in early 2003. This new project would see two new tunnels dug, curving down into the ground to reach University LRT station, and one new station built. Over 2003 and 2004, two new tunnels (northbound and southbound) were dug, and one new station (Health Sciences) was built. This new section of the LRT line was finally just opened on Jan1st, 2006.
The future south extension (all the stations and lines) will all be built above ground (with the exception of graded crossings). Aboveground lines are cheaper and faster to build, and that's what the city needs.
There is no secret unused tunnel, or large unfinished sections. Tunnels cost a lot of money to build, especially in the soil conditions present at the University. Trust me- I watched them dig those new LRT tunnels, learned everything I could about the new line, and we explored them a few times.
Posted by followthewhiterabbit
your pics simply confirm what I was saying. In a round about manner. Unfortunatly it looks like there would have been plenty to explore in the past couple of years but it has never been mentioned in the forum.
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My pics don't really confirm any of what you're saying; they only show that 1) new tunnels were dug 2) we explored them. There was stuff to explore in the past couple of years, as it was being built. Any explorers in Edmonton who didn't know about the new construction must have had their heads in the sand.
reduxzero - DrainsofmyCity |
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followthewhiterabbit
location:
Lower Main land
Gender: Male
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 43 on 1/16/2006 6:32 AM >
| | | | Hey Redux,
Ok This thread is of little benefit to me personally here. When I am in edmonton which is rare, and usually for 5 or 6 days maximum it is completely consumed usually with family and university obligations. The only place I would probably be interested to see again is the train tunnel under 109th street that goes under the condos . So Aside from benefiting Edmonton Explorers I am only ever going to live this vicariously through you. I accept what your saying about the tunnel only recently being completed as fact. I accepted that the last post. I am simply maintaining that there must be a portion of the tunnel still open for exploration. They havent opened a tunnel further along the line yet which is above ground. So. somehow the trains will have to pop out of the ground from the last station which was just built.
so... Anyways, from the new station which just opened to the portion which runs to the surface ground level, I would think that this portion is not open to the public yet. Am I correct? or is this only roughly 3 meters from where the currently newly opened station is? My math would lead me to think that at a 6% grade there must be at least a 300 or 400 meter approach to the station. which I would also predict is currently not open but does exist. Or if this is to sensitive to continue discussing because it is a real tunnel that actually does exist lol we could spend our time talking about mythical tunnels which run from under the chemistry building all the way through vancouver, and out to victoria which are often used by chinese smugglers at the turn of the century which were then gifted to a very active satanist group in a long forgotten ritual that some homeless oldtimer remembers walking through by accessing the basement of some old house 40 years ago if you just pay him 5$.
I'm just a curious george on this one here.
[last edit 1/16/2006 6:37 AM by followthewhiterabbit - edited 1 times]
It seems you've just been looking with your eyes closed. |
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Team Leader
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
location:
Uptown,downtown,all around.
Gender: Male
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 44 on 1/16/2006 8:48 AM >
| | | | Tre cool, classy, and sophisticated, amazing UE, all the pictures lack is some martini's, shaken not stirred of course. Many compliments. T.L.
[last edit 1/16/2006 9:02 AM by Team Leader - edited 1 times]
Death Sentence- Live to die (good ole one)
http://theaumc.com/forums |
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reduxzero
location:
Edmonton, AB
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 45 on 1/16/2006 6:37 PM >
| | | | Posted by followthewhiterabbit
I am simply maintaining that there must be a portion of the tunnel still open for exploration. They havent opened a tunnel further along the line yet which is above ground. So. somehow the trains will have to pop out of the ground from the last station which was just built.
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By posting that, you're telling me that you still don't understand. I'm just trying to explain all this to you.
The LRT crosses the bridge over the river, and goes underground on the south bank. From there, it goes through tunnels to the University station. From there, it goes through (brand-new) tunnels, 300m long, that curve up and emerge on the surface through a new portal. The LRT then goes into the (brand-new) Health Sciences station, which is (for now) the end of the line on the south side. Further expansion south is planned, all of it on the surface. There were never any secret tunnels.
The official SLRT website will tell you all of this. It even has photos. http://www.edmontonslrt.com/
reduxzero - DrainsofmyCity |
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Nancy_Drew
location:
East Vancouver, Yo.
Gender: Female
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 46 on 1/16/2006 8:31 PM >
| | | | Good research Redux 
/closes book on subject entitled Told.
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followthewhiterabbit
location:
Lower Main land
Gender: Male
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 47 on 1/16/2006 8:58 PM >
| | | | Ah-HA! I have it! lol i thought the health sciences tunnel was also underground. IT is all crystal clear to me now. In fact next time I am in Edmonton perhaps I shall take the LRT just to enjoy this moment even more.
Now, Vancouver's version of the sky train will be tunneled underneath several kilometers of a major road over the next couple of years. Looks to me we may have a similar opportunity here. They are using a cut and cover approach however to avoid the expense of the TBM.
Thank-you Reduxzero.
It seems you've just been looking with your eyes closed. |
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Shmee
location:
TRNT,oh.
Gender: Male
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 48 on 5/24/2006 12:54 AM >
| | | | ok I have one for you..."future station", apparently under the ice rink in WEM?
I started a thread on another forum about UE, and this is what someone wrote:
Future station was always thought to be an urban legend, it was the rumored LRT expansion underneath west ed that was never completed. I heard about it when I was like 13 from my brothers and since then I've always wanted to see it. I thought it was so cool that there was an unfinished LRT station built into the original expansion plans for west ed. Everyone always told me that it didnt exist and that it wasnt real and its just a local legend.
THEN CAME THE ARTICLE. In the journal, about 2-3 years ago "whatever happened to future station?" was the name of the peice I think. There were pictures of it and the whole history. Appearently it does exist underneath the skating rink, its just a big empty concrete tomb. You can see the space where the trains were supposed to go but thtas it. Everything else is just concrete, it was given up on early into its development. seeing that would rule. |
does anyone have any info on this?
[last edit 5/24/2006 1:44 AM by Shmee - edited 1 times]
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reduxzero
location:
Edmonton, AB
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 49 on 5/24/2006 2:03 PM >
| | | | Posted by Shmee
ok I have one for you..."future station", apparently under the ice rink in WEM?
THEN CAME THE ARTICLE. In the journal, about 2-3 years ago "whatever happened to future station?" was the name of the peice I think. There were pictures of it and the whole history.
does anyone have any info on this?
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I remember that article, I think I have it somewhere. Whoever posted that reply obviously neglected to read the part that actually mentions where it is; and it's not under WEM.
[last edit 5/24/2006 2:05 PM by reduxzero - edited 1 times]
reduxzero - DrainsofmyCity |
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Shmee
location:
TRNT,oh.
Gender: Male
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 50 on 5/24/2006 11:24 PM >
| | | | Posted by reduxzero
I remember that article, I think I have it somewhere. Whoever posted that reply obviously neglected to read the part that actually mentions where it is; and it's not under WEM.
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how 'bout that?
right again.
*Future* *Station* a relic of failed LRT vision: A legend sits,
cold and damp, deep under the streets
Edmonton Journal
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Page: B1 / FRONT
Section: Cityplus
Byline: Paula Simons
Column: Paula Simons
Source: The Edmonton Journal
Tom Bramwell is taking me to see the future. At least, the
future as it was meant to be.
Dressed in orange reflective vests and armed with Bramwell's
flashlight, we're deep under the streets of downtown Edmonton,
walking the LRT tracks north from Churchill Station.
It's cold and dark and strangely quiet down here. The eerie calm is
broken every 10 minutes or so, when a train comes zipping past, and
we dart to the side to give it wide berth.
Time travel isn't Bramwell's usual specialty. A tall man who speaks
with the lilt of his native Jamaica, Bramwell is an LRT supervisor,
a 28-year veteran with Edmonton Transit.
He's leading me to the concrete cavern they call *Future* *Station*.
It's a little bit of Edmonton archeology, a relic of a vision that
never quite came to pass.
If you're riding the LRT from Churchill Station towards Stadium
Station, you might notice a spot, just under the Remand Centre and
the Brownlee Building, where the tunnel widens markedly.
Twenty-five years ago, the designers and planners of Edmonton's
light rail transit system roughed in that spot as the location for
another station.
According to transit lore, the station was planned in the
expectation that one day the LRT would run from Clareview all the
way to Fort Saskatchewan.
The idea, apparently, was to link the Remand Centre with the
maximum security prison and the provincial jail in Fort
Saskatchewan. Legend has it that one day the province expected to
run high-security prisoner transport trains from the northeast to
the Remand Centre and the Law Courts Building. The LRT would also
have served projected residential growth in northeast Edmonton and
commuters to Fort Saskatchewan.
Before he sent me down to the tunnels, Bob Podmoroff, Bramwell's
boss and supervisor of LRT operations, told me he heard the prisoner
story years ago. But he couldn't vouch for its accuracy.
"Was it designed for prison transfers? When I started training,
that's what I was told. But I'm not sure whether that was the truth
or a folk legend, an urban myth. It might be the truth. Back then,
there were all kinds of different pie-in-the-sky scenarios."
"They had big plans for the LRT," laughs Bramwell.
He gestures with his flashlight.
"This cavern here, this is where it would have been."
*Future* *Station* looks pretty much like a damp concrete box. But
along one wall a door opens onto a well-lit staircase that leads
right up into the Brownlee Building. Today, the stairs simply serve
as an emergency exit for the LRT system.
I found out about *Future* *Station* this week, after I wrote about
overcrowding at the Edmonton Remand Centre. Someone called to ask
why we didn't just go back to the original plan and link the remand
centre with the jail in Fort Saskatchewan.
It's a neat idea. But it turns out solving the remand centre's
space woes won't be so simple. Gordon Menzies, the city's director
of major transportation projects planning, estimates it could cost
$1 billion to run the LRT to Fort Saskatchewan. And that wouldn't
include the cost of special high-security train cars. Making better
use of the empty space at the Fort Saskatchewan jail could indeed
relieve some of the remand centre's crowding.
But running prisoners back and forth on special buses would be a
heck of a lot simpler.
Besides, says Menzies, the city's top LRT priorities are to run the
system south to the old Heritage Mall site, then northwest towards
Kingsway, then to West Edmonton Mall.
That's not to say *Future* *Station* might not someday have a future.
If the area around 97th Street and 104th Avenue ever really clicks
economically -- say, if Qualico's ambitious development plans for
the old CN Station lands ever get off the ground -- Menzies says
it's possible the shell of a station could really come to life.
But at the moment, it sits in the dark, a symbol of all the bright
hopes for LRT expansion that never came to pass.
By now, we were supposed to have LRT links all across the city.
But somewhere along the way, we stumbled. We lost the political
will and the economic momentum to make LRT work. We made poor and
expensive choices to run the line underground, instead of along the
surface. We fumbled chances to make use of existing rail
rights-of-way. And we miscalculated, assuming the city would boom in
the northeast, not the southwest.
There's no use crying over that spilt milk. What matters now, when
our city is booming, and our provincial coffers are simply
overflowing, is the LRT's immediate future. Finally, the line is
about to come above ground at the University Hospital.
What we need to do now is ensure that we don't lose the momentum to
complete the southern line, then to find a way to link the system to
Mill Woods and West Edmonton Mall.
It's time for us to stop stumbling around in the dark. We didn't
end up with the future we expected to have 25 years ago.
But that's no reason we can't leave a legacy of viable rapid
transit for Edmonton 25 years from now.
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dxd23
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 51 on 5/26/2006 2:11 AM >
| | | | haveing previouse accesses to u of a tunnels and documents i can tell you that there are no unused lrt tunnels around the u of a. around the u of a, the underground is to tight for there just be be empty lrt tunnels. the u of a tunnels take up most of the room.
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Vapor
Gender: Male
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 52 on 6/3/2006 2:51 AM >
| | | | I've tried numerous times to investigate said rumour myself, but I've been foiled by a simple but effective security method.
One day, I'll know, but I can state this definitely: there is some form of machinery under the Ice Palace, as you can hear it from the door and their are warnings about it. Beyond that, I have no idea.
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dakotaray
location:
Taber, Alberta, Canada
Gender: Male
This is really me, complete with mud on my face and hardhat!
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 53 on 9/5/2006 3:04 AM >
| | | | Posted by dxd23
haveing previouse accesses to u of a tunnels and documents i can tell you that there are no unused lrt tunnels around the u of a. around the u of a, the underground is to tight for there just be be empty lrt tunnels. the u of a tunnels take up most of the room.
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I can tell you definatly that there is no old underground LRT station under the university itself. For four years i was a member of the security team at the U of A U Hospital and had quite a bit of time on my hands to explore a good portion of the maintenance tunnels underneath the complex. There are old service corridors, complete with alarmed doors (you had to radio campus control before opening them) so I would not recommend exploring them.
Some of the corridors lead to old workrooms and such and some even have very old tools and furniture abandoned in them. One of the most interesting sites I explored were under the old Aberhardt building which was used in the late portion of WWII as a vetrans' hospital and polio treatment center. One of the relics I found was an old iron lung, still wired in and presumably in working condition. There were some old sealed rooms and a couple of sealed tunnels, one that if you believe the stories connects into another set of WWII era tunnels, that were used by staff to get from the old nurses residence into the old hospital complex basement. Many of the old buildings are now gone, connected now to the new state of the art facility.
Again, I would not recommend trying to get in here as there are biological as well as physical and chemical hazards (There is a lv III containment lab in the new lab) as well as trained security, wide radio coverage on a secure frequency, alarms, campus and edmonton city police to contend with.
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dakotaray
location:
Taber, Alberta, Canada
Gender: Male
This is really me, complete with mud on my face and hardhat!
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 54 on 9/5/2006 3:07 AM >
| | | | Posted by Vapor
I've tried numerous times to investigate said rumour myself, but I've been foiled by a simple but effective security method.
One day, I'll know, but I can state this definitely: there is some form of machinery under the Ice Palace, as you can hear it from the door and their are warnings about it. Beyond that, I have no idea.
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I also had the oportunity to give a little info on this. Myself, my brother and my cousin are all certified ice makers, the noise and machinery are for a specialize cooling system used for quick freezing the floor for skating if it has to be taken out for an event. Sorry, don't want to discourage ppl, but the compressors and such run on very high concentrations of ammonia, and should not be entered without proper respirator.
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Pepsi
 
location:
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
Gender: Male
I am who I am because I don't want to be anyone else!
| |  | | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 55 on 10/15/2006 3:10 PM >
| | | | Since someone mentioned the High Level Bridge and the Longest CN Tunnel... well here are some pics i took yesterday!
Of course because im a member of the group that uses these for the streetcar, i was actually going through them from working! lol... anyways first the tunnel then the high level bridge.. When we went out we took our little rail speeder. this is an open car with a model t ford engine from i believe in the 20's. It's a gas engine with a crank start and we flew over the bridge at one point at about 60 clicks an hour. For those that don't know, Edmonton's High Level Bridge is the highest bridge in the world that a streetcar still actively runs over!
[last edit 10/15/2006 3:23 PM by Pepsi - edited 1 times]
James
Host your site @
www.transithosting.com |
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GainersBoogieMan
location:
Edmonton, Alberta., Canada
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 56 on 11/26/2006 8:01 PM >
| | | | The University of Alberta LRT station, did in fact have a "unused" portion of tunnel, the west tunnel at the platform north to the bridge,
(at the platform the west tunnel was walled off) for the first part of its life as cost cutting measures, they just used the rail switch at the beginning of the south portal tunnel,
and switched to the east tracks, the west portion of the tunnel didnt have tracks laid. I believe this was all like this for the first few years of the station's life,
I seem to remember this for about the first few years. this is why on exiting the tunnels northbound, you will find a old bus shelter
(that has been reused as a Flagman station) sitting on the LRT bridge approach, a flagman was employed to stop trains from going into the tunnels, if there was a train at the station,
(can one imagine sitting in that booth in the winter with a space heater?) only to make sure trains didnt run a red, (as there were no yellow safety brakes at that point)
I also, in 1990/91-ish had the opportunity to walk the LRT tunnel from Grandin/Government Centre across the bridge into the tunnel to about the switch, during construction.
An idea is salvation by imagination
-- Frank LLoyd Wright |
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cloak-and-dagger
| | | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 57 on 11/27/2006 1:13 AM >
| | | | That's pretty awesome, GainersBoogieMan. What about, I don't remember if we already talked about this, but the tracks underneath WEM? ...
"If time is my vessel, then learning to love might be my way back to sea." |
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cloak-and-dagger
| | | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 58 on 11/27/2006 1:15 AM >
| | | | | Edmonton's High Level Bridge is the highest bridge in the world that a streetcar still actively runs over! |
That's amazing.
"If time is my vessel, then learning to love might be my way back to sea." |
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Nancy_Drew
location:
East Vancouver, Yo.
Gender: Female
| | Re: Infiltrating Edmonton
<Reply # 59 on 11/29/2006 8:07 PM >
| | | | Posted by cloak-and-dagger
That's pretty awesome, GainersBoogieMan. What about, I don't remember if we already talked about this, but the tracks underneath WEM? ...
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There are no tracks under WEM so nothing to discuss.
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